Hi I am new to homesteading as well. I bought property in NE Tennessee. I don't think it was cheap, but then again my property has a house on it. I find Tennessee to be great. I did a lot of research and while I have different priorities, my goals are similar. I have close to 3 acres, and want a milk cow, chickens, ducks, turkeys and possibly a pig. I have been here around a month and haven't even started yet. As to TN its quite nice. There is good rain fall the summers are not nearly as hot and humid as where i was before, and you actually get to enjoy all 4 season. I made sure to get land in a nice valley, as you tend to accumulate more water, have thicker greener grass, and stay just a tad warmer then on a mountain. I know I am late in responding to this, but I am quite new and have just seen this.

Wonderful, luscious post! I love posts about nursery-hopping, especially those complete with photos. ---and the widdle horsies are just the most pwecious widdle things, yesum is! I want to rub their little noggins. I hit It's About Thyme last month after a rose-pal recommended them. They had Dittany of Crete! And allspice trees. So far the favorite Austin area places I've visited are The Natural Gardener (heaven) & Barton Creek (tons of natives & other perennials in 4" pots for $2. I hope to hit these new-to-me places on my next nursery-hopping tour.

well, hmmm mazer, i suspect they would give milk like any other goat. come to think of it, the lady who has them for sale did tell me she has had several buyers who wanted them for their milk! murraysmom, i guess maybe i never posted about the mini boys. having had back surgery almost 4 weeks ago and being pretty much incapacitated for the past few months, it has been very hard for me to be able to care for them. i had to depend on friends to come out and clean up after them and do my feeding over the past 2 or 3 months. i knew i would really never be able to really take care of them and give them the attention they crave so much so, re-homing them was my only option. i found a couple who run a business called "Pony Pals". they have 8 shetland ponies they use for kids birthday parties, nursing home visit, parades, etc. and they just happened to be setting up a petting zoo and had been thinking about adding a couple of miniature horses. they came out to the farm right before my surgery to meet the boys and fell madly in love with them. they picked them up last week along with red's little easy-entry cart, his harness, rebel's saddle and all the fittings. because i was ONLY concerned about finding them a really good home, i donated them and everything else. i was just so thrilled to find a home that would be perfect for them and i will visit them often! :) wayne and janet have a little 4 year old granddaughter who LOVES horses. every time she comes to their farm, the first thing she does is grab the marshmallows, go out to the fence and holler for the minis. they always come running. i'm thinking they may be more spoiled than ever already! i will keep you updated with pics of the little goats once i get them home. should be right after the memorial day holiday. i'm excited, it'll be fun to watch them romp and play. i'm sure the danes will wonder what the heck their momma has brought home this time! LOL

This lady on the hypertufa site (on this garden web) has three video that gives the instructions to a T They are called draping pots and it is done by soaking cloth in a cement mixture about gravy consistency. I tried a few more today and used an old blanket but I found the flannelette sheets cut up worked way better and not so heavy. I am not sure what I will put into them or maybe just leave them empty. Possibly the easiest would be to put a planting pot inside? Heck, I never thought that far ahead lol This is the site if I copied it correctly . Sure is a fun thing to do http://www.thehypertufagardener.com/revisit-draped-hypertufa-planter/